Monday, February 19, 2018

What is the Best Thing About Being a Teamster? Four Ex FedEx Freight Drivers Answer The Question.

Teamsters Local 848

Aaron Garcia: Fontana, Ca.

Being a teamster is important because with out it you don't have excellent pay and a voice with regards to your rights for fair work place treatment.

Juan Vera: Whittier, Ca.

For me, Guaranteed wages and health benefits, a good work environment, guaranteed hours. The ability to choose what days you want to work.

Joe Nuno: Mira Loma, Ca.

If you don’t have a union in the workplace, you don’t have guaranteed wages, health benefits or a secure pension. You are an “at-will” employee. You check your rights at the door, and your employer can fire you or change your conditions of employment at any time and for almost any reason.

There are real advantages to having a union for you as an individual and for society in general. By forming a union with your co-workers, together you will have the strength to negotiate a legally binding contract with your employer that includes better wages, affordable health care, a secure retirement and a safer workplace.

Mike Milroy :

San Fernando Valley, Ca.

Guaranteed Security, a contract spelling out your destiny. With regards to pay, benefits, and everything that entails the business and how you fit into that business, you are safe, secure and covered, who wouldn’t want that?

There is way too many company promises that will never come true because just remember “their job”depends on them lowering costs “you incur”, because then they get to divey it up, how can they realistically worry about you when it’s “their job” on the line?

Management wishes they could be us! trust me on this. I have had so many managers tell me they took the wrong path and envy my job. My wife has thirty years in the teachers union(UTLA) and is leaving with 100% of her pay and lifetime benefits. We are a union family! There is way too many benefits and emotional securities to mention in this illustration . I wish I didn’t waste 25 years of my life at Fed-Ex being non-union and them constantly reminding me how lucky I was to have their stinking job. They depend on isolating and eroding your security like that, it puts “them” in the position of strength. I can’t tell you how many of my old freight buddies I see at the studios that want to leave, telling me stories of long term friends dismissed for trivial reasons, makes me sick to my stomach and sad to hear news like that, yet happy I’m here and not there and now being the persons in the position of strength.

Just remember you are dispensable, you will use up your usefulness and when that happens and it “always does” it’s too late to go back and fix it.

The next batch come along get fed the same non-sense and the pattern will continue because the young get old and expensive, we forget all our fellow employees that worked with us and disappeared, reflect back on how many are no longer there, companies depend on your short-term memories and your own self interest taking priority. Do you honestly think you will be able to afford benefits in the near future when the people who say they will take care of you wind up working for your competitors? Big companies could care less what happens to you! Those extra funds go directly to fund things for the top in stock options, bonuses, cars, vacations etc. Also don’t get fed that stupid line about union dues and layoffs, all scare tactics because that’s “all they got”. In conclusion I have been so fortunate to have become a Teamster and would only want all of my brothers and sisters at Fed-Ex to have what we all have here, it’s a great life.

Good Luck to having the work future you have been working for and deserve, and earned for your families.